Chasing Chase
by LEMONSKY4
Summary: Elizabeth Van Lew Chase has wanted for as long as she could remember to discover the Lost City of Atlantis. An artifact from the Templar Treasure might just be the key to finding it. RileyxOC BenxAbby
1. Chapter 1: My Time to Shine

**Disclaimer: I don't own National Treasure! I only own Elizabeth! :)

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**Chapter 1: My Time to Shine

"_Elizabeth Van Lew was a spy for the Union during the Civil War. She was such a good spy that she had received praise from General Ulysses S. Grant!" a very enthusiastic and passionate Elizabeth Van Lew Chase said to her first grade class._

"_My parents wanted to give me the name of a strong, important woman in history, and I'm proud of my name. And when I grow up, I'm going to discover the lost city of Atlantis," Elizabeth said to her class, with a proud smile on her face…_

Elizabeth blew the stray piece of hair out of her face. She was starting to get annoyed by it. She stood up from her hunched over position and leaned back with her hands stretched up over her head. She felt her back crack. Wiping away the sweat that had been accumulating on her forehead, she checked the time…_Five A.M._

She let out a frustrated groan. She had forgotten to change her watch to the current time zone. She calculated the time difference in her head….Noon. Lunch time.

She smiled to herself a little. They wouldn't mind if she took an hour off for her lunch break. She dusted the dirt off her cargo shorts and walked up the makeshift stairs and walked over to one of the big tents.

"Hey Monty," Elizabeth said as she collapsed into one of the chairs.

"Hey Liza," he said without looking up from the piece of pottery he was examining.

They sat there in silence.

"Couldn't stand the Grecian sun?" Monty asked with a hint of amusement.

Elizabeth smirked. "Oh I can stand it, I'm just trying to remember why I decided to come here," she said while thinking of that day her boss told her about this site.

"_There's a new dig site in Greece. I want you to go there…" her boss said._

_She started to tune everything out then. Her boss had a tendency to ramble. _

"…_Atlantis…"_

_That snapped Elizabeth back to reality._

"_I'm in!" she said, no even caring that she had just interrupted her boss._

"Oh right, I remember now," Elizabeth said as she sighed. Atlantis. She'd been fascinated by the lost city for as long as she could remember. So far, everything that she's researched about Atlantis has led to a dead end. She sighed again and grabbed an apple and took a big bite out of it. Once she was done eating, she retied her pony-tail and went back out into the Grecian heat.

-x-

Elizabeth entered her hotel room in a foul mood. One of the important supervisors that arrived at the site earlier that afternoon was _shocked_ to find Dr. _Elizabeth_ Chase not Dr. _Abigail_ Chase.

"Honestly! My sister specializes in handling antique documents!" she grumbled as she threw off her dusty boots. She looked around her spacious room.

"_The perks of being an archeologist," _she thought. _"If only I'd be able to _actually _use it."_

She made her way towards the shower, and sighed. She hated being compared to her older sister. And now the fact that her sister had found 2 finds of extreme historical significance, she knew it would be even harder to compete with that. Oh without a doubt, she loved her sister to death, it was just the fact that she was always in her sister's shadow.

"_When will it be my time to shine?" _she thought as she slowly went to sleep.

Little did she know, her time to shine was approaching sooner than she thought.

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**A/N: My first ever National Treasure Fic! Like it? Love it? Hate it? Let me know!**


	2. Chapter 2: Patience is a Virtue

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Only Elizabeth!**

**Thank you, Jamie Fynn, SarahB0B, and TweenisodeOrange for reviewing! :D**

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Chapter 2: Patience is a Virtue

Abigail Adams Chase was not known for being a patient woman. She was tapping her foot impatiently on the marble floor, waiting for one Riley Poole to arrive.

"Honestly Ben! He's ten minutes late!" Abigail huffed.

"I know that's why we told him to meet us here a half hour early, so then he would be on time," Ben said to his pacing fiancée.

She stopped pacing and was about to call Riley on his cell phone, when she saw Riley practically running towards them.

"Sorry I'm late guys, I didn't hear my alarm clock go off," Riley panted as he tried to catch his breath.

"It's no problem," Abigail said as she looked over his appearance. His shirt was untucked, tie loose, and his converse shoes were untied.

"Riley, we still have a few minutes, get yourself presentable," Abigail said as she joined Ben on the bench.

Riley was in no time presentable and the trio walked to an office.

"Ah! Dr. Chase! Mr. Gates, Mr. Poole! You're early!" and older man said to the three.

"We're _early?!_ How early are we?!" Riley furiously whispered to Ben.

"Twenty minutes give or take," Ben said nonchalantly.

Riley gaped at him for awhile, opening his mouth to say something, but always ended up closing his mouth.

Abigail was discussing with the older man, Dr. White, about the artifact they had been called in to look at. It was apart of the Templar Treasure that hadn't been catalogued until now. Yes, that's how long it's taken to catalogue the monstrosity of a treasure the trio had found. In fact, there were still several things that still hadn't been catalogued, and several more that need to be looked at in greater detail. Anyways, back to the artifact at hand.

"Well, if you will all follow me, I will show you the artifact," Dr. White said as he led them to a room adjoining the office.

The room was overflowing with various artifacts, all on shelves or in special cases. There was a crate on an old, yet sturdy table in the center of the room. Dr. White beckoned the three towards the table.

"Mr. Gates? Would you mind helping me taking the top off of this crate? These things always tend to bothersome when you only have two hands," Dr. White mused. Ben quickly assisted in taking off the lid, and he gently placed it on the floor.

Dr. White glanced up at Riley and Abigail, then rubbing his hands together; he started to remove the top layer of packaging.

He carefully pulled out a thick slab of stone, and gently laid it down on the table. Dr. White handed out pairs of gloves to everyone.

Abigail quickly examined the stone slab. The stone itself looked centuries old, but the inscription looked more recent. It looked like the inscription was in Latin.

"I'm no expert, but I believe that's Latin," Riley mumbled as he scrutinized the tablet.

Ben, who was currently bent over the tablet, quickly stood up straight.

"You _know _Latin?" he asked.

"Bits and pieces. Like I said, I'm no expert," Riley shrugged.

"Since when?" Ben asked, still not letting this piece of information go.

"Since freshman year in high school, Ben," Riley said in a placating tone, hoping that Ben would drop it.

"But-"Ben started to say, but Riley cut him off.

"Let's just say that even though I took Latin doesn't mean I'm a _freaking_ expert. I _barely _passed all of my Latin classes. Happy?" Riley said hurriedly.

Ben opened his mouth to say something, but just nodded his understanding. They would discuss this later.

Dr. White cleared his throat, standing there rather awkwardly; Abigail tried to hold back her laughter.

"Anyways, Mr. Poole is _correct._ It is indeed Latin," Dr. White said with an awkward smile.

Riley had a triumphant grin plastered to his face.

Abigail shook her head, and started to translate the tablet.

"_Follow…the…path…of…these…clues…and…you…shall…find…the…lost…city…of," _Abigail's eyes widened in shock.

"In front of you is a clue," Dr. White said.

"Clue?" Riley asked confused.

"A clue to what?" Ben asked, now completely interested in this tablet.

"_Atlantis,"_ Abigail muttered, still looking at the tablet. She looked up from the tablet to get a confirmation from Dr. White.

"Atlantis?" Ben and Riley yelled out.

"You mean, **THE **Atlantis?" Riley asked incredulously.

Dr. White nodded in confirmation.

"So what you're trying to tell us is that this tablet will help us find –"Ben started to say.

"The _Lost City of Atlantis,_" Abigail stated, not believing those words would ever come out of her mouth.

"B-but that's **impossible!** It doesn't exist!" Riley stuttered, his eyes wide in disbelief.

Ben arched an eyebrow, "What did they say about the Templar Treasure? Or what about Cibola?"

Riley stubbornly muttered, "Good point."

Dr. White spoke directly to Abigail, "I believe you know someone who would be a valuable asset for your newest adventure."

Abigail didn't have to think long for the person in question to come into her head, _"Lizzie."_

"I have some phone calls to make. Excuse me," Abigail said as she hurriedly left the office.

"Wow. Just Wow. Atlantis?! I don't believe it, Riley. We're going to find _Atlantis._ Do you know how _**important**_ this is?!" Ben said excitedly. He was now in stage two of 'treasure-hunting-mode'. Stage one was accepting the 'quest' and stage two was being 'overly excited'.

Riley rolled his eyes. "Yes, Ben. We'll be rewriting history. For the _third time_."

Ben pointedly ignored Riley's comment and shook Dr. White's hand and left the office. Riley was about to leave as well, when an unusual display of thinking ahead came to Riley.

"Um, excuse me, but do you have a scan of the tablet and a translation of the inscription?" Riley asked.

Dr. White smiled at him, and handed him a manila folder, "It's in there. There's also some information about Atlantis, and several different maps of the ancient world."

Riley thanked him and hurriedly left the office.

-x-

"Pick up your phone, Lizzie," Abigail muttered impatiently as she paced the hallway.

"_Hello?"_

"Lizzie! How are you? Are you enjoying Greece?"

"_Abby? I'm, uh, fine. It's obnoxiously hot here. Wait, you called me only a couple of days ago. What's wrong? Did something bad happen? Are you alright? Do you need me to bail you out or something?" Elizabeth gasps, "You haven't been KIDNAPPED or something and I need to pay your ransom!?"_

Abigail sighed, Lizzie and her over-active imagination, "No, Lizzie, I'm perfectly fine. I just wanted to ask you something."

_Elizabeth sighs in relief, "Oh. Okay. Shoot."_

"So today I got called in to examine an artifact of important significance," Abigail stated.

"_Uh huh… Please continue. Your stories are always _life-changing,"_ Elizabeth said sarcastically._

"It's a slab of rock that has a Latin inscription on it," Abigail continued.

"_Yes, and what does this slab of rock have to do with me?" Elizabeth asked, sounding impatient._

"Are you sitting down?" Abigail asked.

"_Um, no? Should I be?" Elizabeth sounded utterly confused._

"Well, sit down. Are you sitting?"

"_Okay, I'm in a chair. Abby, just tell me what it is. You're killing me slowly here." _

"It's a clue."

"_A clue to _what_?"_

"Atlantis."

Silence.

"Lizzie? LIZZIE?!"

"_Oh...My…GOD!!!!!" Elizabeth screamed, causing Abigail to pull her cell phone away._

"_Please tell me this isn't some sick cruel joke."_

"No, Lizzie, it's not. I'm telling you the truth."

Silence.

"_Even though I'm glad you told me, but why the hell are you calling me about this?"_

"Lizzie, I'm asking you to help me, no _us._ You know so much about it, you've wanted to find it ever since Dad told us that story when we were younger, and…"

"_And?"_

"If we do find it, you'll be famous. You'll be able to go on any archaeological dig that you want, and your boss won't be able to say no."

_Elizabeth laughs. "Okay, okay. You had me at 'help me'. So what can I do to help?"_

"Well, we need to get your butt out of Greece and back in D.C."

"_Yes, that may be a problem."_

"How?"

"_How am I going to explain to my supervisors, which thought I was you, by the way, and my BOSS that I'm leaving to go find Atlantis?! They'll think I'm crazy!"_

"Oh, well, if you give me your boss's number, I may be able to help you there…" Abigail said deviously.

It was silent, but Abigail could tell that Lizzie had an impish grin on her face.

"_I like the way you think, Abigail Chase," Elizabeth said before she gave her the number._

Abigail laughed, "Well, Elizabeth Chase, all you need to do is purchase a ticket back to the States, and call me when you get back, okay?"

"_Okay, then. I'll see you soon. Bye!"_

-x-

Abigail met up with the two boys down in the main lobby. Ben was pacing back and forth, without a doubt planning what they should do, and Riley, who was holding a manila folder, was sitting on a bench with an amused look on his face.

Ben looked up, and smiled at Abigail, "So who did you talk to?"

"Oh, a very good friend of mine," Abigail said mysteriously.

Ben's eyebrows knitted in confusion, "_A very good friend, she says? Hmm, I'll let it go, for now."_

"So what have you planed?" Abigail asked.

"Well, I've been thinking that we need to decode the inscription of the tablet," Ben said. He was currently in 'planning' mode, or stage three.

"And once we do that, we go from there," Ben said. Ben then noticed Riley's amused look. "What's so amusing to you?"

"Well, I was just wondering how you're going to decode the inscription when you don't have the tablet," Riley said with a smirk on his face.

"What do you mean, we don't have the tablet? Ben, please tell me you got a scan of the tablet," Abigail said, hoping that they won't have to go back to that office, and look very _unprofessional._

"I, uh, well…" Ben stuttered.

"When you ran off calling mystery person, and while Ben was too excited to think about anything else, I _remembered _to ask for a scan of the tablet _and _a translation of the inscription. There are also some maps of the ancient world in there too," Riley said with a triumphant smirk as he passed the folder to Abigail.

"Really?" Abigail said, sounding impressed as she looked over the contents of the folder.

"Yep. So what are we going to do now?" Riley asked.

Ben opened his mouth to speak.

"We wait," Abigail said as she closed the folder.

"We WAIT?! Why?" Ben asked. He was the planner out of the three.

"We're going to meet up with Li- uh, my very good friend, and then we'll go from there," Abigail said as she left the building, Ben and Riley running to catch up with her.

-x-

Elizabeth Chase was currently sitting on a park bench, waiting for the three treasure hunters. She had her sandy brown hair pulled back into a messy bun, and she was wearing a crème peasant skirt with a mossy green tank top. She checked her watch, and saw that they should be here in…_five minutes._

She really hated waiting.

-x-

"So where's this mystery man, anyways?" Riley asked as the trio walked into the park.

Abigail searched the park for her sister, and spotted her on one of the park benches, "There!" she said rather loudly as she quickened her pace.

"Where? I don't see any man," Ben said in a happier tone. He's been rather suspicious of Abigail's relationship with this person, and knowing that it probably isn't a man, boosted his mood immensely.

Elizabeth noticed the trio and got up from her park bench.

"ABBY!" Elizabeth yelled as she approached the trio.

"A very _cute _man," mumbled Riley. _"Why is it that when we _think _we're going to meet a man, it's actually a _girl?" Riley thought.

"LIZZIE!" Abigail said as she hugged the girl. She then continued talking to her, pointedly ignoring the two confused men.

"Um, Abby why are they staring at me like that?" Elizabeth whispered.

She then gasped, "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL THEM THAT I WAS YOUR SISTER?!" she whispered loudly.

Riley looked at the two whispering girls, "Did you know Abigail had a sister?"

Ben, who was as shocked as him, shook his head no.

"Dude, that's…just not right. Your fiancée not telling you that she has a sister?" Riley shook his head.

Abigail cleared her throat, "Ben, Riley, meet my sister, Elizabeth Chase."

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**A/N: DUN DUN DUNNN! Ah, sorry for that cliffie, but if I continued this chapter any longer, I wouldn't have known when to stop. :D Anyways, I'm sorry for the wait, but I hope that I made up for it with the length of this chapter. I know that Ben seems a bit OOC, with him forgetting things and all, but hopefully I'll make him more in-character next chapter. Also, do I need to make Riley a bit more sarcastic? I feel like I need to, but your opinions would be appreciated! Leave a review!  
**


	3. Chapter 3: Getting Down to Business

**Disclaimer: I own noting, except for Elizabeth!  
I'M SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT, ENJOY THE CHAPTER!

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_Chapter 3: Getting down to Business

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_

"Erm, hi," Elizabeth said awkwardly.

"Hello, I'm Benjamin Gates," Ben said as he held out his hand.

Elizabeth shook his hand, but then pulled him into a hug. "It's nice to finally meet my future brother-in-law," she smiled.

Ben smiled back and looked questioningly at Abigail. She just gave him a look that said, "I'll talk to you later." Elizabeth looked expectantly at Riley, to see if he was going to introduce himself, but he just stared right on back.

Ben nudged him in the shoulder, "Hey what was that for?" Riley said as he rubbed his shoulder. Ben motioned toward Elizabeth and Riley understood.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I'm Riley Poole," he said awkwardly as he held out his hand.

Elizabeth, looking amused, shook his hand and said, "Nice to meet you."

"So, now that we all now know each other, let's get down to business," Abby said as she started to fish out the folder.

"Hey, Abby, why don't we go back to my apartment to work on this? It's a lot more private there, and only a few blocks away from here," Elizabeth suggested.

"Great idea Elizabeth. Lead the way," Ben said as he motioned for Elizabeth to walk in front of him.

"Ben?" Elizabeth asked as she walked past him.

"Yeah?"

"Call me Lizzie," she smiled.

"Okay, Lizzie."

-x-

"Home sweet home," Elizabeth said as she opened the door to her apartment. It was big and it was cozy. Elizabeth walked down the hallway and walked into a room that was on the right.

"Make yourselves at home! The living room is just down the hall!" Elizabeth yelled.

"Lizzie, I've been here before!" Abigail called back as she smiled; entering the room Elizabeth was in to help her.

The two men walked down the hallway, as they were told to, and discovered that the room Elizabeth went into was a study/guest bedroom. They reached the living room, Riley noted the various souvenirs scattered around the room. Ben, being curious, noticed on the opposite wall of the couch was a wall full of photographs. Ben realized that these were all pictures representing all of the trips Elizabeth had taken.

"Okay, here we are," Abigail said as she walked out of the room with a huge pile of books in her hand. Elizabeth followed with a huge pile of maps.

"I can recognize most of the places in these pictures, but I can't figure out this one," Ben said as he gestured towards a picture that had Elizabeth standing next to some man in a desert location.

"Oh, when you three were off discovering Cibola, I was in Afghanistan supervising over some dig sites and helping rebuild the museum there," Elizabeth said vaguely as she looked through some of the maps and examined them.

"Who's the fellow?" Abigail asked as she went up to look at the picture.

Elizabeth looked up from the maps and stared at the photo with a look of sadness and pain.

"That's Al, he was my translator," Elizabeth said quietly as she slowly sat down in an armchair.

Something registered in Abigail. "Oh my God, he's the one that…" she trailed off as she looked down at her younger sister with concern.

"Right before my eyes," Elizabeth muttered. She could hear gun shots and screams playing over and over in her head.

Riley, noticing the far away look in Elizabeth, looked at Abigail, hoping for some answers. He wasn't surprised that he didn't find any. He looked at Ben, and saw that he was looking the same way. Ben coughed awkwardly, hoping to break Elizabeth out of her trance.

Elizabeth snapped out of it, and quickly stood up from the armchair. "Sorry," she said sheepishly.

She walked towards the kitchen, which had modern appliances.

"Would anyone like anything to drink or eat? I just went to the grocery store," Elizabeth asked as she opened her refrigerator.

"What do you have?" Riley asked.

"Um, coke, iced tea, water, milk, apple juice, and that's it. I'd have to make the iced tea, but it won't take long," Elizabeth said.

"Iced tea," all three said.

"Okay, four iced teas coming right up," Elizabeth said as she got out all of the things needed to make iced tea.

"What happened to Al?" Ben immediately asked Abigail as he sat down next to her on the couch.

Riley, also sitting on the couch, was watching Elizabeth as she walked around the kitchen.

Abigail shook her head, "It's not my story to tell. You'd have to ask Lizzie," Abigail whispered.

When Ben kept on staring at her, she sighed.

"Look, I'm only going to tell you it was two weeks after we discovered Cibola that I got a call from Lizzie. She was sobbing into the phone and it took me a half hour to figure out what had happened," she said sadly.

Riley and Ben taking in this information remained silent.

"The iced tea is ready! Come and get it!" Elizabeth said.

-x-

_Follow the path of these clues and you shall find the lost city of Atlantis. The journey shall be long and challenging, but if you are determined and witty, it will be most rewarding. In a small country, home to a big mountain, between two enormous countries is where you shall travel. In the snowy mountains, climb is what you ought to do. Halfway up to the highest peak, an unused path is what you seek. Follow it, and you will descend into the belly of the beast._

"The _belly of the beast?_ What do you think they mean by that?" Riley asked puzzled.

"Well, it could mean that they are referring to the mountain," Abigail said as she finished eating her Sweet and Sour chicken.

"Yes, I get what you're saying, and by belly, they mean inside. So we have to go inside the mountain," Ben concluded.

Riley nodded slowly, "Okay, but _which mountain?_"

Elizabeth, who had been picking at her Mongolian Beef in silence said, "That's what we need to find out."

-x-

It was three am and the only one that was conscious was Elizabeth. Everyone else had slowly fallen asleep; Abigail was first, then Ben, and then Riley. She really didn't mind much, she had always been a night owl.

She had been thinking over the clue and for the life of her, she couldn't figure out which mountain they were referring to.

"There's Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Mount McKinley, Vinson Massif, Aconcagua, Puncak Jaya, and…" Elizabeth quickly got up from her armchair.

"Could it be that easy?" she mused to herself. She searched the maps on the coffee table, and not finding what she needed, she quickly ran walked towards the study. She found the map of Asia and located the country between India and China.

"Everest," she whispered to herself.

She quickly walked back to the living room and woke up the trio.

"Pack up your bags, we're going to Nepal!"

-x-

_Several Hours Earlier…_

A group of burly men in black suits and sunglasses followed a blonde haired man into the main office where all the information and some artifacts of the Templar treasure.

The blonde haired man had an "I'm the boss and you'll do as I'll say" vibe as he sauntered into the adjacent room.

Dr. White noticed the men, "Can I help you with something, gentlemen?"

The blonde haired man pulled out a gun and aimed it at Dr. White's head.

"Give us the tablet, or I won't blow your brains out," he said icily.

Dr. White happily obliged to the man's orders.

-x-

"I didn't know you lived _here_, Abby!" Elizabeth said as she saw the approaching mansion come into view.

"Yes, well, you've never really asked about where I live," Abigail said as she looked at her home fondly.

"And to think, I thought you lived in that crappy apartment all these years," Elizabeth muttered to herself, and then she realized that Riley had heard her.

"What? It's true. The place was a mess," she said at his look of disbelief.

"Trust me Riley, it was," Ben said as he looked at the two of them in the backseat.

"How come you were there?" Riley asked.

He paused, "Why wasn't I there?"

"I was the one that helped move her out of that crappy place when you were too busy showing off your _cherry red Ferrari_ to the ladies," Ben said as he pulled into the garage.

"You know, I'm still here," Abigail said as she got out of the car.

"It's all out of love, Abby, all out of love," Elizabeth reassured as she walked into the house after her sister.

Elizabeth followed all three into the main entry and stood there in silent awe.

"Lizzie, Ben and I are going to go pack, so you can explore," Abigail said to Elizabeth as she walked up the stairs to where Elizabeth presumed where the bedrooms were located.

Ben quickly followed Abigail up the stairs and Riley muttered something about the kitchen and quickly ran off, leaving Elizabeth alone.

Elizabeth smiled to herself, she loved exploring.

-x-

Elizabeth had discovered the conservatory, shocked to find it overflowing with various exotic plants.

"_I'm surprised that all of these plants are still alive," _Elizabeth mused, remembering that her sister could never keep a plant alive for longer than a month.

As she kept on walking through the conservatory, she realized that it was quite large. She finally came across the center of the room and looked up at the completely glass ceiling. She smiled and couldn't help but twirl around.

"Tell me, how old are you?" Rile asked amused as he emerged from another end of the conservatory. He had a granny smith apple in one hand.

Elizabeth stopped spinning and turned to look at Riley.

"I'm twenty-five, soon to be twenty-six," she said.

Riley smirked. "How odd. I thought you were four," he took a bite out of the apple.

Elizabeth was going to say something, but she heard Abigail call for her.

"I'm in the conservatory with Riley, Abby!" Elizabeth yelled as she followed her older sister's voice. She quickly stopped and turned to look at Riley.

"I'll so get back at you for that," she said confidently.

"I'll be waiting, then," Riley said smugly.

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**A/N: I am SO SO SO sorry for the long wait! I had some major writer's block for this chapter, and I hope that the next one won't take as long! Feedback is appreciated!**


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